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Posted: 10/27/2007 10:02:10 AM EDT
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A few months ago I posted some pictures of the Vector milled classic AK47 that I got from Atlanatic as a replacement for the Lancaster 1.6mm that I wasnt' happy with. I posted a bunch of pictures, but I'll repost this one for reference: http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x21/clutterbugg/vector_right.jpg I took it to the 100yd range last week and am just getting a chance to share the results. I know that AK's are not a 'fire 3 rounds and check the group" type of rifle. But hey as a competitive Garand shooter, I couldn't resist the temptation to check the grouping on this milled Vector. I filled up a Bulgarian waffle with Wolf FMJ and shot two sets of 10. The second set gave me this grouping at 100yds: http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x21/clutterbugg/100ydrested-MilledVector.jpg If you throw out the two fliers (definitely my fault), thats an honest 2.5" group at 100yds. A couple of my Garands can't even do that (although my CMP competition rifle holds 2moa with no problem). Not bad for an AK! As far as the fit and finish is concerned, this milled Vector is beautiful. It's about as close as I'll ever get to a Polytech Legend hinking.gif. The function of the rifle, although not perfect at first, is now dead-on. The sights are still off to the left by a few inches, but I can fix that. I like the Buffertech recoil buffers in my AK's, and with this addition and a bit of trigger work on my part, my milled Vector classic is about as perfect as I can imagine an AK to be. For competition, I'll still use the Garand - but it sure is fun to sit down next to an Elmer Fudd with a scoped .300 Winmag at the range and turn in a group like this with an iron-sight AK47 clone and crap ammo. It definitely makes you appreciate the milled AK. -thirtycal |
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Does that milled Vector have a Chrome barrel? What was wrong with your Lancaster? Im looking to buy either a Lancaster or a Vector. Atlantic Arms recommends Lancaster over Vector. The Forums seem to recommend Vectors over Lancaster. Confusing!!! What gives? So confusing im even thinking about a Krebs or a Arsenal 107FR when they finally come out. Any input would be help. HELP John |
Until recently I couldn't tell if it was chromed or not - but after firing it some of the parkerizing from Vector's refinishing has worn off at the muzzle-end and I can now see a patch of bright chrome at the muzzle. So yes it is chromed. As for what was wrong with my Lancaster. I don't want to repeat all of the details since I already documented it in a msg thread on this site. Unfortunately I can't search beyond 30 days, so I can't find the thread. Perhaps if a paying member can perform a search for the thread labled "Grumble", they can follow up in this thread with a link to that thread. As for your 'confusing' comment. Yes it is. It's taken me months to come up the learning curve with AK's. Compared to the US military firearms that I'm familiar with, the whole AK world is very convoluted. As mentioned, Atlantic probably would prefer to move the Lancasters because supply may be a bit tighter for Vectors, but I'm just guessing. I don't know how Vector works, but from what I can tell about Lancaster, they appear to employ a network of subcontractors to build their AK's. I believe that's why some Lancasters are marked 'Goodyear AZ', and some are marked "Arma, Parker, CO". I don't have any evidence to suggest that Vector doesn't do this, but I'd prefer to buy a rifle from a vendor that builds all of their rifles on site under carefully controlled conditions where quality audits can be performed before, during and after the build process. Also, tooling can be more easily standarized and controlled, along with build procedures, etc. I think this 'network' approach is what got Lancaster in trouble with quality, and unfortunately they didn't quite "get" the fact that this data gets shared on internet forums until it was a bit too late - the damage to the Lancaster brand had already been done... But to their credit, they are aware of this, and definitely seem interested in restoring their brand equity. Check out their "Questions and Answers" page: Lancaster Questions and Answers page I have no affiliation with any builder, and in fact I'm a relative newbie to AK's... so take anything I say with a "grain of salt". All I can say is that if I had a choice, my first preference would go to a small "one man shop" with a good reputation - which is why I chose Arizona Response Systems for my last build. After that, I'd go with Vector only because a dealer in my area carries them. Lancaster would be a close but 'third' choice mostly because there is nobody in my area that carries them, and I don't really want to buy an AK without first seeing it. I got lucky with the milled Vector that Atlantic sent me, but I wouldn't expect that luck every time hirtycal |
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no its not that there is a wait......Vectors product is better than a Lancaster, they have been in the business a lot longer, and there reputation is outstanding Vector also uses polish parts.....Lancaster Romanian.......polish is better quality hands down. there is a reason why the people that buy the rifles keep saying Vector.....for the money they can not be beat |
| Just to clear this up , Vector uses a mixture of parts from various country's and they are not all Polish , Both company's build good guns and we get the Vectors in just as frequently as the Lancaster line, Milled rifles are a bit hard to come by because they build them up in batches once a month. We have a hand full of milled units coming and then there will be no more milled units coming out of Vector because they are out of the milled receivers, we are currently in negotiations with another firm to produce Milled AK rifles for us and hope to have this nailed down this week. |
Hmm really? I was fondling a beautiful new-in-box Legend this weekend. My buddy has one but won't sell it to me. It's never been shot. Probably a good thing! -thirtycal |
Which one, the milled or the stamped? -thirtycal |
Yes, that's the furniture that came on the rifle. I don't know what the origin of the furniture is, but on the lower handguard there is the faint remnant of a serial number stamped into it (doesn't match the rest of the rifle). I presume the wood is surplus (perhaps Hugarian?). -thirtycal |
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